Chapter 23
I don’t know what came over me. When Jamie joined our lunch table with the biggest grin on her face, I didn’t expect her to tell me it was because phys-ed was a Camila and Tabitha free-zone.
The fire inside me grew when Jamie mentioned Tabitha never returned to the gym.
Somehow, I knew Camila had done something to Tabby, especially after she’d escalated things by making up an eating disorder.
I left the lunch table with a flimsy excuse, needing to find her.
Every protective cell in my body surged when I found her hiding in that alcove. I dropped to my knees fast, needing to comfort her. I’ve never seen someone hug themselves so tightly. And, man, her tears. That hit me hard.
There was a flurry of tingles under my skin when she hugged me. I didn’t expect that, and I really didn’t hate it. Especially when she smells sweet like flowers, and I got another opportunity to touch her silky curls.
There wasn’t much time left of our lunch period once I found her.
But the few minutes we sat together in silence were incredible.
Her tears dried up and her smile lit up the darkened space.
Once the bell rang, we left the alcove separately, and now in our English classroom, I have to force myself to look away from her desk.
My breath halts in my chest. She’s looking in my direction. There’s the slightest flicker upwards at the corner of her mouth. A smile she’s doing her best to hide. Man, I gotta hear that giggle again.
With my elbows on the desk, I lean forward with my hands pressed together and hiding my face from Jamie, who's on my other side. Tabitha’s still looking my way as I mouth, “Study date?”
Her brow furrows and I try again, mouthing, “Study?”
She still doesn’t get it. Lines crease her olive complexion and her head shakes.
Her hands sneak under the desk and I look away so I don’t draw Ms. Jenkins’s attention her way as she texts me.
In an instant, my phone buzzes in my pocket.
I swallow slowly, wishing to any deity listening that Jamie isn’t watching me.
With the cunning of Indiana Jones stealing an artifact, and hoping there’s no big boulder out to get me, I slip out my phone and unlock it under the desk.
Checking Jamie in my peripherals, I glance at my lap.
"Study?" Tabitha texts.
I grin at it. This girl isn’t dumb.
I look up and glance her way and give a subtle nod.
“Yo,” Jamie whispers beside me.
Dang, big boulder. Ridding any signs of guilt from my face, I turn her way.
Her eyebrows lift. “Coming to the café after school?”
“Can’t.”
She waits for more. “Why not?”
“My mom wants me to go to the mall,” I lie. I’m lying to my best friend. “Something about picking up something for my birthday.”
Jamie snorts. “She wants you to pick up your own birthday gift?”
I wave it off. “No, no. It’s clothes. Like, a sizing thing.”
Jamie shrugs. “Oh, okay.”
Dang, she believes me. I am a worthless pile of crap.
“James,” I whisper. “I’ll try to swing by, though.”
“To get out of clothes shopping?” Jamie smirks. “I’ll bet.”
I murmur a laugh until the tapping from the teacher’s desk distracts me.
“Jamie and Kai,” Ms. Jenkins says in her wispy voice. “Can you please get back on topic?”
We answer by shifting in our seats and avoiding her eye contact.
My phone buzzes on my lap. I look down to see another message from Tabitha.
"Where?"
I look up before Jamie notices I’m looking at my phone. She’ll assume it’s one of the guys and want to know what they’re saying.
I could reply to Tabitha with Village Coffee, but I’m not sure I wanna risk getting caught there. Three visits feel like a bad omen. Besides, I don’t really want to study. I just want an excuse to be around her again.
With nimble fingers, I text a reply before anyone notices. "Mall?"
"Okies!" she replies.
Okies? If one of my friends said that, I’d wanna hurl. But when Tabitha does it, man, it’s adorable.
“Psst,“ Jamie whispers out the side of her mouth. “Can your mom drive me to work?”
“Huh?”
“You’re going to the mall, right? You’ll be going to Main Street, anyway.”
“Yeah, no, can’t.”
“What do you mean, can’t?”
“I’m going to see Coach Lyle after class and Mom’s getting here later. You’d be late to work if you waited.”
Jamie shrugs it off. “Fine. I’ll text Parker to give me a ride.”
My gut squeezes with the need to be alone with Tabitha. Any time she and Jamie get in close proximity, they both turn in the other direction. I don’t want to put Tabitha under more tension. I want her to feel safe.
I want her to want to be with me.
Lying to Jamie sucks, but it’s one time. Once Tabitha and I have this time together, things will get easier. If I can get Tabitha away from those wicked girls, Jamie will have no choice but to see her as the sweet girl I now know.
After class, Jamie waves goodbye, on route to find Parker in the foyer.
Tabitha edges toward me. “Is it okay if I stand near you?”
I grin at her. “My friends have left the building. I just need to hang back for a bit.”
Her eyebrow arches. “Why’s that?”
“I kinda said I was meeting up with my coach. I needed a reason to not leave with them.”
“And telling them you were studying with me wasn’t better than a lie?”
“I lied to you, too.”
Her chin drops, startled.
I grin, grazing my finger against her chin. “I don’t want to study, Tabitha. I just want to have you all to myself.”
“Oh.” She lights up with a thrill. “In that case, shall we walk the long way out of school?”
“Let’s do it.”
We walk with a foot of distance between us. I’d be lying if I didn’t want to be closer to her, but somehow it feels close enough. Her floral scent wafts toward me and I enjoy watching the way her curls bounce as she walks.
On our way to Main Street, the conversation is annoyingly small, commenting on nearby houses and the weather. It’s a good thing this side isn’t as hilly as the one toward our houses.
“You don’t want to run there today?” I joke.
“I told you,” she says with glee, “I’m never running in this uniform again.”
I gesture at my blazer and tie. “It’d be in solidarity today.”
“Thanks for doing that, by the way. I know you hate being in this uniform.”
As we wandered through the school halls, she asked me to stay in my uniform. I agreed on the caveat that she leaves a change of clothes in her locker from now on. Granted, I immediately loosened my tie, and couldn’t undo the top two buttons of my shirt fast enough.
We get to the strip mall, and Tabitha glances at the window displays, but her mind seems elsewhere. I follow her into a department store, and we ditch our backpacks by the front help desk.
I let her take the lead, and she dawdles through the makeup section. I might have a friend who’s a girl, but she's never worn a lick of makeup. I don’t even think Jamie would know what to do with mascara. Actually, she’d probably look strange if she wore any of it.
Tabby, on the other hand, looks flawless with whatever she puts on her face.
Every feature is enhanced and basically hypnotizes me with her beauty.
I can’t tell if her eyelashes look that long because of mascara, or if they’re natural.
Either way, she looks great. But I can’t help noticing her gloominess as she scans the array of products.
“Aren't you into this?” I ask.
It’s like she jolts out of a trance. “Sorry, I was somewhere else.”
“That’s okay. Are you okay?”
“I was trying to zone out by thinking about my products at home.”
I smirk, following her into a section filled with handbags. “And it didn’t work?”
“It should have,” she says, smiling at herself. “Maybe it’s silly, but I really like this stuff. I enjoy blending eyeshadows and matching lip liners with lip gloss.”
“And you’re good at this stuff, right?”
She frowns at the handbags and then moves between racks of shoes with a sigh.
“This stuff usually helps me get out of my head. Guess, this day sucked more than usual. Any kind of accessory usually does the trick. Especially jewelry. I like pairing it with new outfits. Actually, that’s what Camila likes about me. ”
“Is that so?”
“Mm-hmm.” She nods at a pair of pale pink sandals. “She won’t wear a new outfit until I’ve picked the jewelry to go with it. Before every school dance, both she and Yvie need me to do their makeup. I guess that’s my contribution to the friendship.”
“Some friendship.”
She shrugs, her brown eyes duller than I’ve ever seen them. “It helps mask how crappy they treat me. Like I said, I like fashion and styling. It’s fun and makes me feel like I’m actually good at something. In those moments, it feels like there’s some life left in me.”
“Oof. That’s dark. Ah, how are you doing?“ I ask cautiously. “I mean, I assume you’d usually spend Friday afternoons with your friends. I’m guessing you need distance from them now?”
“Oh, definitely,” she blurts and then takes a deep breath in and out. “Cammy slapped me. She actually slapped me.”
I wince. “I’m so sorry. And you didn’t want to report it?”
She frowns, clutching her elbows. “It’d only make things worse.”
“You deserve better.”
“Do I?”
I clutch her upper arm, halting her in place with me. Staring into her big brown eyes, I could melt right here. “Of course you do. They make you miserable.”
When I let go of her arm, she releases her elbows and shakes out her tension. “Well, I’m with you now, so I don’t have to be miserable. Let’s talk about something fun.” Her brown eyes sparkle with excitement. “It’s your birthday this Sunday?”
“Don’t get too excited. I’m not throwing a rager or anything.”
Her shoulders droop and her chin wobbles. “I wasn’t thinking about a party. I was just happy about your birthday.”
“Oh.”
She clasps her hands and rocks on the balls of her feet. “Do you do anything special to mark the day?”
I rub the back of my head. “Not really. Just hanging out with my friends, as usual.”
“You do nothing with your family?”